Centaurs are said to have originally descended from Ixion who was a Lapith of Thessaly. Now Ixion was in love with Hera, and this made Zeus very jealous, so he thought up the idea to create a cloud the resembled the image of Hera. Ixion could not distinguish between the Nephele, the cloud, and Hera so he ended up accidentally mating with Nephele. The child that was created was named Centaurus. He was said to be quite an "experimental" youth and mated with a mare of Thessaly one day. From that, the centaur breed was born.
Ixion also played a role in one of the most common myths involving centaurs and the War with the Lapiths. King Pirithous, who was another son if Ixion, invited the centaurs to his wedding. Of course, they lived up to their reputation and became belligerently drunk and increasingly interested in the Lapith women at the wedding. Rumor has it that one of the Centaurs even attempted to run off with and seduce the bride. All of this caused great conflict and a battle broke out between the Lapiths and the Centaurs. Eventaully, the Lapiths prevailed and the centaurs were forced to move out of Thessaly. This particular myth is so important in the history of ancient Greece, that there were even several relief sculptures in the Parthenon that depict scenes from the battle. Check it out:
Michelangelo also created a famous relief depicting the battle scene.
Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs (c. 1492)
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/artwork/michelangelo-sculptures4.htm
http://www.play.net/aoh/info/races-centaur.asp
http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Ca-Cr/Centaurs.html#b
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